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Thursday, September 30, 2010

It's been a really nice day. Just one of those "nothing special" sort of days but hey, that in itself is pretty special. We've just been puttering around the house and the yard with no real plans to get anything in particular done. Just hanging out and enjoying this beautiful weather. Have you ever noticed how much you can get accomplished sometimes when your not doing anything?

I've done a few loads of laundry and even got them folded! I have been known to be a little lazy about that. Now I just need to get them put away. I've gone through my coupons and am trying to get them organized. There are quite a few that are about ready to expire so I've been sorting them out to see what I might still be able to use. I have a shopping list started.

Let's see, the front of the house is vacuumed , the dishes are done and put away and the trash is taken out. I got a little knitting done sitting in the backyard and soaking up the fresh air. I'm still working on that scarf and I am hoping I can finish it in time to use it this winter. I guess we will see how that plays out!

We have a pork loin smoking on the pit and a big 'ol pot of pinto beans on the stove. That big loaf of rustic Italian-style bread Mushroom and I made last night and a tossed salad ought to round things out and make a mighty nice dinner. The dog's have been having a great day too. You can sure tell they are enjoying the weather as much as we are!
Speaking of dogs, I don't know if you remember our "criminal" dog or not. She is (was) still playing the escape artist by jumping the fence in the evenings. At least she hasn't brought home anymore new toys! Anyway, when she was a pup we had one of those "invisible" fences complete with the training collar. It didn't take her any time at all to understand how it worked. Within a couple of days she had her boundaries figured out. She was a really easy dog to train. She's a smart girl and hands down the best dog I have ever been lucky enough to hang out with!

Well I guess she thinks we haven't noticed her late night outings are still going on. She hasn't brought any new toys home lately but she HAS been out wandering around the neighborhood. I would be heartbroken if something happened to her. We don't have the training collar anymore so yesterday Mars decided he would put up a hotwire around the top of the backyard fence. Needless to say, it didn't take very long at all for her to discover her escape route had been shut down. Once is usually enough for her. I can't say for sure just yet but I'm betting she won't be taking any more early morning strolls by herself any time soon!
~~Hey... I'm Just Sayin...~~

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

There hasn't been alot going on around here so far this week. The weather has been wonderful and the weather folks are calling for more of the same for the next week or so. I certainly can't complain. It seems like every time the weather gets like this I wish it would stay this way forever! It just never seems to last long enough.

Those purple beans are starting to come on now. Mars got a good handful of them on Sunday and another handful again today. At this rate it will take awhile to get a good mess of them! I expect they will take off soon though... the plants are covered with blooms. We still haven't got anymore squash but again there are lots of blooms so I'm sure it won't be long. Hey, even the tomato's have some blooms on them. I don't know if we will get any red ripe ones but hey, wouldn't some fried green tomato's be wonderful!

Here's a picture of the things I was able to pick up last week with the help of coupons and in-store savings. Yes, I know those are Spongebob taco kits! They have 10 taco shells, taco seasoning and taco sauce for a dollar a box. I found some 83% Hamburger marked down and had a $2.00 coupon so I was able to pick up three pounds for $4.00! Lets just say every item here except the lettuce was on sale, including the sausage and the fish sticks.

I am still doing the couponing and am really surprised at the amount of money that I have been able to save. One thing I have found though is that the things I have been buying are more of a "fill-in" sort of hings that I know I wouldn't actually buy.(Like the Pepperidge Farm and Keebler cookies ) But I am not one to argue with free!

Coupons are not going to feed the family but they will sure help stretch an already tight budget! I don't know if you can read that but I paid $14.00 for all this and saved a whopping $38.27. Coupons are not foing to feed the family but they will sure help stretch an already tight budget!

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Wow, it seems like it has been quite awhile since I've posted anything. I think this is the longest "down-time" I have had here since I started blogging. To be honest though, looking back, I think I needed the break. I've been a bit distracted here lately and am trying to get myself back on track. I don't know where the track is headed but I'll be sure to be on the train!

Thursday I went with Mushroom and her husband Bud to the V.A. Hospital. He was scheduled for a colostopy (darned if I know how to spell it! ) and they put him out to do it. Mushroom doesn't have her driver's license right now so she asked me if I would drive them home. Good thing too since Bud wasn't feeling much pain after it was all over. He was a little loopy and a whole lot funny! He got a clean bill of health and won't have to have another one for five years. It's a good thing too because it's going to take her at least that long to talk him into having another one!! :)

I made it to the Dr.'s appointment on Wednesday and got the test results from the blood work and a diagnosis. There was nothing new about the diagnosis except that things are progressively getting worse. I suppose that shouldn't surprise me since I already pretty much knew what they would have to say. I just didn't realize how hearing it again would actually feel. I won't go into details here, mainly because I figure folks really don't come here to read about that sort of thing. Anyway....

Friday I received a letter from Social Security regarding my filing for disability. Yep, you guessed it. They turned me down again. A bit depressing but at least this time I was expecting them to. My lawyer filed for a hearing with a judge and so now begins step 3. We wouldn't have had to do this if I had got the news I received on Tuesday a few weeks earlier. But hey, that's just the way things go. Things will eventually work themselves out, I just have to try and be patient. Until then life goes on. I refuse to give in and mope around waiting. Life is meant to be lived and enjoyed and that is what I fully intend to do!

We all loaded up this morning and went to an Air-gun Shoot. Bud is a big air-gun junkie and has been looking forward to this for a few months now. We all had a great time with a whole lot of other air-gun enthusiasts. I took tons of pictures and I will post all about it in a day or two. It's been a long day so I am going to cut it short this time!
~~Hey... I'm Just Sayin...~~

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

I've been a bit under the weather the last couple of days so posts have been a bit sketchy. I haven't even read the blogs I love to follow. I have a Dr.s appointment in Tulsa early tomorrow morning. Just what I want to do... drive through the land of construction during rush hour! Thursday Bud has a procedure he has to have done. They are going to give him some drugs before hand so I am going to go and drive them back from Muskogee. LOL Some folks would get a laugh out of that! Imagine that... I'm the designated driver! :) Wow, I'm tired just thinking about it! I must be getting old. There was a time when I could run flat out full speed for days on end and never even blink! So anyway.....While I'm out of commission why don't you check out some of the folks on my blogroll. There is some great reading to be had there for sure. ~~Hey... I'm Just Sayin...~~

Monday, September 20, 2010

There are all sorts of things in the news lately that we should all be worried about. Our rights and freedoms are gradually being stripped from us while we just sit around and let them take each of them without any fuss whatsoever. Sometimes I wonder just what it will take for the people of these once great States of America to stand up and say NO MORE. Or will we just sit back and wait for someone else to do it? This article hit me as a good summation of what I see happening around us. Our nation appears to be embracing socialism at every turn without to realizing what is even happening.

Oh, have you heard that over in the UK they are proposing that everyone's checks first go to the government so they can get what taxes "they" think are fair? How long before our own government decides that they will do the same? I can imagine it happening since "they" have us so far in debt already.It won't be long before they come for our pensions and retirement plans to try and make up for some of the money the bankers have squandered with NO repercussions. Will we stand up then? Somehow I doubt it.There are truly bad things going on around us every day. Things that don't make the Main Stream Media. Things that should make a good person downright angry.

I don't usually write post like this one. Sometimes though things just tick me off. There is so much more I could and should say about the horrors going on around us daily. I will refrain as best I can though I will not promise to rant on occasion.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

We got the first fall bounty from the garden this week! Isn't it pretty? We cooked it up with a little bit of onions and a couple of pats of butter.. Oh My was it good.Wow, it's hard to believe that it is already Saturday. Another week just about to be history! Funny how time seems to fly by these days. Do you remember when you were a kid how time just seemed to drag by? It seemed like week took an eternity to pass. Especially when you were waiting for something to happen. I swear back then it took a month for a single week to pass. For example, the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas surely had to be six months. It sure felt like it anyway! These days I finish up the Thanksgiving dinner dishes and the next thing I know I'm cooking Christmas dinner. Yep, time sure does fly these days.

I've been grocery shopping again and did really well. I'll be doing a separate post on that in a day or so. It got me to thinking about a couple of things though. One is that if I were not living "in town" I would not be able to take advantage of sales and coupons the way I am right now. I mean... it is easy right now for me to go to the store a couple of times a week and take advantage of some of the specials. That wouldn't be possible if we were living out of town. That means some of the really cool deals that I am taking advantage of right now wouldn't be available to me in other situations. I am sure though that even if I could only shop once or twice a month I could figure out how to make the best of things. So I guess until then I will stock up on all I can, while I can.

I got an email this week from the FoodSaver company about the sales they have this time around. I get them regularly since I bought my vacuum system a couple of years ago. (Time flies remember.. I think it might have been more like three years). They had a really neat sale on their FoodSaver Mini-Plus system. The regular price is $69.99 and it was on sale for 50% off with free shipping. What a deal! Well, I got to thinking about it a bit and wondered if there was any way to share that great deal with you guys who read here. Well I called the FoodSaver folks just to see if it would be possible. I spoke with a really helpful lady by the name of Laurie. She regretfully told me that it was something I couldn't do. I asked her how I might go about possibly being an affiliate dealer for them so I could share cool deals with you guys. She gave me the information I might need to set that up. I mentioned that I had a blog and have always considered a FoodSaver system a really important part of food storage. I also mentioned that I was a prepper and that seemed to spark a little interest. She asked me if that was like preparing for a natural disaster or something. She was familiar with it!!! Of course I told her Yes! She asked me ( off the record) what the name of my site was and so of course I shared it with her. Laurie, if you are reading, welcome and thanks for all your help!

I have been trying for over a month now to get my computer hooked up to Mushroom's printer. All the drivers are installed, and the software, and everything SHOULD be working just fine. Of course, it isn't. None of us here can figure out why. Since I have been doing the coupon saving it has become more important than ever to be able to print things off this dang thing! Oh well, we will figure it out eventually! Until then all I can say is Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr ~~Hey...I'm Just Sayin... ~

Thursday, September 16, 2010

I've been reading through some of the blogs I enjoy. I hadn't really realized just how many of them I follow. At last count there were 153. Now I know that sounds like an awful lot but you have to remember that there are very few who post on a regular basis. This makes it "manageable" for me and I thoroughly enjoy them. I'm always on the lookout for a new and interesting blog. Now I'm sure if they all started posting with regularity I would seriously have to cut back. There is only one thing that really annoys me about some of them. It's that "jukebox" that plays the authors favorite songs. Now don't get me wrong, I actually enjoy most of the music that is there. It also gives me an insight into an authors taste and style in music. What IS disturbing are the ones that play music when the blog opens. I don't have a choice but to listen to the music. The ones that "hide" the jukebox wayyyy down on the page are totally annoying. I either have to scroll down until I find the dang thing or mute my speakers. Now having said that, Is it just me or does it annoy you too when you open up a blog page music automatically starts playing?

I think I have mentioned before that I have finally found a place where I can get medical help. This organization is wonderful. It is a christian run clinic with Doctors and Nurses who volunteer their time to make it happen. They have an 18 wheel tractor trailer set up as a small Doctors office, complete with examining rooms and even a small pharmacy area that dispenses non-narcotic medicines. If they don't have some medicines in stock, the rule of thumb is that they prescribe what they can generically so you can go to Wally World or some other place that has the $4.00 + stuff. The folks there are wonderful and make you feel like you are a person and not just another "case" to deal with.

Now having said all that, I had an appointment scheduled yesterday. I had to go into the Big City which is a trip of about 60 miles. The Physician's Assistant had called me on Saturday (on her own time) and told me that my blood tests had come back. Apparently my blood platelets came back extremely low so she wanted me to come in and have another test run. Well, I got there on time but when I pulled up there was no tractor trailer. Just a sign that said the clinic had been canceled. I was shocked. No one had called to tell me about the cancellation and here I had just driven 60 miles. As it happened though, I had the P.A.'s number (from the call on Saturday). I found out later that the church's water was off so they had to cancel at the last minute. I gave the P.A. a ring and left a message. Then I waited around awhile to see if I would hear back from her. I finally decided to head back home. Well, I got a call back after I had got to the little town just outside of the Big City. To make a long story a bit shorter I turned around and met her at another clinic, picked up my lab request and headed out to find the lab. After getting lost a couple of times I finally made it!! Now I have to wait until next Wednesday for the results. They should re-confirm what I have been telling Social Security all along. Hopefully when I get the results I will be able to get them off to them in time so they can use them in making their decision on my case. I have my fingers crossed this time since these results could definitely speed up the SS process.

I haven't mentioned this before. Mainly because it is (to me anyway) really disturbing. The neighbor that lives next door has two dogs. One is a Dachshund and the other one is a German Shepard. The dachshund has been tied up on the front porch all summer and the German Shepard is tied up in the backyard. These poor dogs have been without water during the hot summer most every day. Not to mention that it seems they don't feed the German Shepard much at all. Two or three times a week maybe. It disgusts me. Heck it makes me want to cry one minute and raise hell the next. Here is the problem though. I can't get into their backyard to water and even to feed that poor dog. He looks horrible and probably suffers from Heart worms as well. I wanted to call the Humane Society or the dog pound or whatever they have here in Little Big Town and report the situation. The problem is that the neighbor is a cop here for the city. If I were to call he would definitely know who had done it since we are the only ones who can see into the back yard. There would be repercussions. Mushroom said that they have called on them before and that the drama lasted for a long time afterwords. I am a guest here and so I can't be getting folks in a tizzy either. I just don't know what to do.` Heck it's illegal to do some of the things I have considered!! :) It just breaks my heart to see people abusing animals like that and not even caring.
~~Hey...I'm Just Sayin...~~

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

For the last couple of weeks I have been using coupons while grocery shopping. I have to admit that it has been quite an interesting and eye-opening experience. The rule of thumb for me is to only buy things that are readily usable in my food storage OR that it is free. Yes, I have found that there are a few things that I have been able to pick up FREE!

Here is what I have been doing. First I check out the weekly sales ad's to see what is on sale. And then I go through the coupons to see what I can use. The local grocery store here doubles coupons up to $1.00 which can have a huge impact on savings. I make a list and try to stick to it. So far I have been doing really well. I just have to remind myself that I am only shopping for food storage and for immediate use around here. I stay away from things we don't actually eat. Store what you eat and eat what you store is a motto around here. I didn't buy anything that wasn't on sale and I had coupons for almost everything I picked up. So here it is...

I'm totally amazed at how much money I saved. I think I may end up being a couponing freak!! It didn't take much time at all to deal with the coupons and make the list either. I will sure be doing this again and I bet I end up being pretty good at it too. Everyone knows how much I love being cheap....err... frugal. :)
I am still hoping to have Shelly, from the Ohio Prepper's Network, to do a guest post about how it all works. That girl is a Grocery Shopping Guru.
I have just started trying this over the last couple of weeks and already I can see that it is a great way to make your dollars stretch. Which means more $ for more preps!
~~Hey... I'm Just Sayin...~~

Monday, September 13, 2010

It keeps trying to rain around here but it just can't seem to make up its mind. We have had a little bit around here but hey, we could always use some more. The garden boat and the other plants are loving it! The cucumbers are blooming and so is the yellow squash. I just love squash blooms. I have always marveled at their beauty. The one spaghetti squash seed that Mars planted is really taking off. He has it in a cage so it can climb and man is it ever doing that! It's at least four foot tall now with a single bloom on it! There is even a bloom on one of the tomato plants!
Mushroom and I made some oatmeal cookies yesterday. They turned out really good. They are huge too. This is a recipe that she used to make for her kids when they were little. She used to send them off to school with a couple of them for breakfast! Now before you say "What? Cookies for breakfast?" just check out the ingredients in this wonderful recipe. It is also really versatile so feel free to play around with the ingredients! Who says cookies can't be healthy!!

Hint : Use any fruit that you like, mixed or alone. Use any nuts that you prefer. Sesame seeds are good too.
Last night for dinner we had baked pork chops, scalloped potato's and a really nice green salad. I am posting the recipe for the scalloped potato's here because everything that is called for is probably in your food storage already. They turned out wonderful. We put the pork chops on top of the potato's to save space and energy! I have the before picture here but I wasn't fast enough to click a pic of the finished product right out of the oven.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place potato slices into a medium casserole dish. Combine remaining dry ingredients and sprinkle on top of the potato slices. Dot with butter. Pour boiling water over all and stur gently to combine.
Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes, or until potato's are tender. You can broil it for the last 1-2 minutes if you prefer the top to be a little more browned.

I was ,however, able to click a picture of the Oh So Finished pan. I guess that this one speaks for itself!!

My good friend Wolfe over at Wolfe's Blog has been quite creative over the weekend. Check out the crossword puzzle he made up! It has been designed for prepper's and for the friends of the Prepper's Chat Room. I understand he will be doing a Sunday Crossword Puzzle for Prepper's on a weekly basis. He is working on another one for next week. If you would like to join us in chat please stop by and say hello. There are lots of other prepper's there and most evenings you can find folks ready to chat and discuss most anything prepper related (and not so prepper related too!)

Friday, September 10, 2010

Caution- Reading this post could cause severe boredom. . Short version- I've been feeling under the weather but I'm better now. Proceed at your own risk.

Another apology for not writing for the last few days. The last two days have been spent driving around in circles for the most part. I had an appointment on Wednesday to see a new doctor. Since I can't really afford one and can't get medicare yet, I was able to find a wonderful place called The Good Samaritan's. They will see people who have no insurance or money to see a doctor. There aren't really many rules except to show up on time. The appointment was for 9:00 am with a check in time of 8:30 am.

I had the very best of intentions and was aiming to be there before 8:30. Things just never seem to work out like you had them planned though. I had to drive into Tulsa, which is a little over 50 miles from Little Big Town. I was up at 6:30 and on the road by 7:00. Now don't you think that would be plenty of time to make it? Yeah, so did I. The problem is that it seems that every single road in Tulsa is under construction of some sort or the other. And so my google map of how to get where I needed to be was rendered practically useless. Well truth be told even without the construction detours it was pretty useless. I tried calling the numbers I had for the place and of course neither of them were any good. Anyway, somehow I finally found the place at 9:15am. I ran in, breathless, and was told my name had been crossed off the list. Grrrrr.... but as fate would have it, someone didn't show up and I was able to take their spot.

The doctor was great. She is going to do all she can to help me get my Social Security Disability. As she put it "There is NO reason they should have turned you down". So she ordered a bunch of lab tests to be done and some xrays as well. This way I have something to show SS. Unfortunately the diagnoses hasn't changed but at least I have found a bit of help.

Yesterday I had to go back into Tulsa (construction capitol of Oklahoma) and find the lab to have the blood work done , as well as the x-rays. I'm really glad Mars went with me because once again I was lost as lost could be. Of course every time I stopped to ask for directions I got some crazy instructions that kept getting me more and more lost. For over 2 hours we drove around before finally we broke down and bought a freaking $5.00 map of the city. LOL we should have done that the day before! With the help of the map we drove straight to both places with no more troubles. Geesh, what a day.

I didn't realize how much it had taken out of me. I've been told that fatigue is one of the things that I will eventually have to deal with. I guess I know what they were talking about now. I fell into bed early last night and slept for a solid 10 hours. (something I never do) Things are looking much better today!! ~~Hey- I'm Just Sayin~~

Monday, September 6, 2010

Beautiful morning just sitting out on the porch and drinking coffee. Someone must be having brisket today. I can smell the fire from someones pit floating in the breeze. There aren't to many people stirring in the neighborhood yet. I love this time of the morning. The sun's just barely up and its quiet. There aren't any traffic noises yet and the birds are all starting to sing. I can hear a squirrel making those chucking noises that squirrels make. It won't be too long though before the sounds of a small town coming to life will be heard. Kids playing, grown ups laughing and chatting around the pit.
I have always enjoyed Labor Day. Its one holiday that that really doesn't have to be made a big fuss over. On the other hand, if you feel like it you can go all out too! For me it has always meant good friends, good food and time to just relax. It signals that the steamy hot days of summer are mostly behind us now and that the cooler days of Fall are on the way. Labor Day is one the few holidays that just demands (for me anyway) a fire on the BBQ pit and some type of meat on said pit. We are having what I consider a traditional Labor Day meal this year. Hamburgers and hot dogs! Only we are going at it in a little bit of a different and sure to be yummy way.
Mushroom has found a wonderful old fashioned meat market over in Tulsa. They cut their own meats to order and still wrap the meats in butcher paper! They also grind their own hamburger meat and make their own versions of polish sausage. You just can't find many places these days that go that extra mile.
Speaking of going the extra mile, our meal today is sure to be a wonderful one. And my friend Mushroom sure knows what she is doing. With good planning we are going to be able to enjoy the day just relaxing and being with friends. All the "hard parts" have already been done over the last two days. I wanted to share with you just how this weekends foods all came about. That lady certainly knows how to plan things so that it almost seems effortless. I am doing all I can to learn from her experience in the kitchen while we are here with them. It would be silly NOT to!

Mushroom defrosted a nice roast and put it it the solar oven earlier in the day on Saturday along with some nice carrots. We cooked the potato's for the potato salad and tossed in a few extra to make mashed potato's for Saturday's pot roast dinner. We chopped up all the vegetables like the onions and celery that we would need for the next couple of days, including the carrots for the roast. We stirred up the potato salad and put it in the ice box to "set". I say that because we all know that the longer Tater salad sits the better it is! The beans were put on to cook overnight. After all this stuff was done, she whipped up the extra potato's and made some excellent brown gravy from the roast juices. So we had a yummy pot roast dinner on Saturday night and marked the potato salad off the to do list!

Yesterday was another interesting day in the kitchen. The baked beans were still cooking and I was going to learn how to make some homemade bread. I know some of you will be shocked to know that I DID NOT use my bread machine!! As a matter of fact, after this weekend I might be using my beloved bread machine for kneading dough only. We made two different batches of bread. The first one is a Rustic Italian Bread that is one of Bud's all time favorite breads. It made the biggest loaf of bread I think I have EVER seen! And OMG was it wonderful. Then we made Onion Roll Hamburger and Hot-dog buns to go along with our Labor Day Feast. Dinner last night was pretty simple but oh so yummy. Salomi and Provolone sandwiches on Rustic Italian Bread with a side of potato salad.

Today is the girls day off! Our work is done. Other than to heat up the beans and take the Potato salad out of the ice box. The menfolk are going to fire up the pit and toss some big ol hamburgers on along with some of that killer polish sausage.
So there you have it! Hamburgers and Hotdogs on homemade onion buns, Yummy Potato Salad and homemade Baked Beans!
What are you having for your Labor Day Celebration?
~~Hey...I'm Just Sayin...~~

Friday, September 3, 2010

It has been a picture perfect day here. I love this time of year. It is still "almost" hot in the afternoons but oh so pleasant in the mornings. You can feel that the change in seasons is just around the corner. To me it seems that even the air is different.

The cats and the dogs are all starting to put on their winter coats. I've been trying to remember just where I stored the long sleeve shirts. Not that we need them just yet but it won't be much longer and I have things packed in every conceivable space in the RV. This will be my first fall and winter spent in a more northern climate. STOP LAUGHING! Oklahoma IS north to me! This is going to be my first winter in someplace other than Texas in many many years. I'm kind of looking forward to it, but then again I don't really like cold weather. I know though that I am going to thoroughly enjoy actual seasons. I really hope that maybe by this time next year we will be on our own land somewhere in Arkansas.

The kittens are really starting to wander around now. They are still a bit skish around people yet but they are getting better day by day. They come closer and closer to letting one of us touch them without freaking out and running away. Even the men folk are a little bit "taken" with them. Just don't let them hear me say that though. They are becoming a source of entertainment for us all. It is actually kind of funny to hear four grown adults go on like little kids about the kittens. I can only imagine what we will all be like in a month or so. LOL

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Woo Hoo! I'm back online. We had a little problem around here and lost the internet for a couple of days. It seems the city is doing some underground work down the street and clipped a line. They did a temporary fix that lasted a few hours but it is down again now. This is the third time in the last couple of weeks that it has happened. I don't understand it though because every time I drive by where they are "working" all I see are people standing around, looking in the hole and talking on radios. Sign me up for one of those jobs will ya?

I made another batch of soap yesterday and as far as I can tell it was a beautiful success. I have decided I am going to go into the soap making business. I am going to be talking to some local businesses about placing my soaps in their stores on a "consignment" type deal. There are several places that I have in mind both here in Little Big Town and also in the next town over. When we were in Tulsa a few weeks ago I saw a small display of homemade lye soap at this little grocery/butcher shop for sale. That's when the idea just sort of "clicked".

I feel really good about this and hope to be able to make a part-time go of it soon. Of Course the soap has to cure for 3-4 weeks before it will be ready. The first batch should be ready to go in another week or so. So I have a little time to make up a few sample baskets and all. I've decided to offer it here on this blog as well. So stay tuned for Homemade Soaps coming your way soon!

I am really starting to see the increase in food prices in the last couple of weeks. It is a bit unnerving to me. My friend Shelly ( who writes for the Ohio Prepper's Network ) and I were talking about it again last night. She is an avid coupon-aholic and very good at it. She has been trying to "educate" me about some of the ways she saves money. She actually found a couple of sites for me here in Oklahoma that look like they are going to help me save some of those precious dollars. She has got me excited about this! I can see where I really might be able to save a noticeable amount of money and we all know that I am cheap....errr...frugal I mean. I am hoping to get her to do a guest post about some of the tips and tricks that she uses to feed her rather large family.

I am happy to report that I have officially finished my first identifiable knitting project! Yep, you can actually tell what this one is! I'm really starting to enjoy it too. My next project ( which I have already started ) is a matching scarf. And then who knows where that will lead.

Someday it might actually lead to a pair of hand-knitted socks! I don't see it in the near future but ..

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